MD owned PT practice

[soccer31]

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So I just came across this article on the APTA website and I was wondering what you guys have to say about it, in particular those who have been in the workforce for a while and are familiar with this kind of situation.

This is the "case of Columbia Physical Therapy vs Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates (sometimes referred to as the Richard Wright case). The Court unanimously ruled in favor of a practice owned by medical doctors (MDs) in a lawsuit challenging its right to employ physical therapists (PTs) to whom the MDs refer patients. The challenge was brought by Columbia Physical Therapy Inc (Columbia), a PT-owned professional service corporation, against Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates, PLLC (BFOA), a professional limited liability company owned by MDs."

The APTA statement can be read here;

http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm...NTENTID=71618&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm

 

[MotionDoc]

It's a shame...even ignoring the blatant financial facts that speak against such clinics, from an ethical point of view it is blatantly obvious that physician owned PT clinics are problematic. I do not believe the same result would fly in every state, and I say the 'battle' is just beginning...

Till then, the fight has to be from within...there is no good reason why PTs should choose to work in physician owned clinics if they had the option of working in PT owned clinics. If they do not have that option, then that scenario speaks to the heart of the matter: Physicians should not have the ability to corner the market on Physical Therapy services. In my opinion, to think otherwise would be similar to saying PTs aren't the best (let me add to that: by far the best) healthcare practitioners when it comes to MSK and neurologic rehabilitation.

Note: nothing I said above implies that I believe physicians should not be intimately involved in the care of complicated patients...and by complicated, I mean patients with known medical conditions.